There has never been a published report on any species in the N-methyl-.alpha.-dialkylaminoacetohydroxamic acid genus except that N-methyl-.alpha.-diisobutylaminoacetohydroxamic acid is described in J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 94, 1376 (1972) in Japanese patent application (OPI) No. 198453/84, and in Tetrahedron Letters, No. 8, 643-646 (1974). (The term "OPI" used herein means published unexamined Japanese patent application.) However, even these reports describe nothing about the properties or synthesis of this compound.